This qualitative study examines expert instructors’ lived experienced with online pedagogy in order to (1) understand how teaching in a virtual environment influences pedagogical style, academic identity and student-instructor interactions and (2) to explore how the virtual teaching experience evolves as faculty continue to teach online. None of the existing empirical research has focused on accomplished instructors’ online teaching experiences and, as a result, there is very little information concerning how to sustain faculty approval, retain skilled instructors, provide adequate online teaching support and maintain a successful online learning enterprise over time (Coppola, et al., 2002; Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009; Betts, 2014). Using a constructivist design, this study employed interviews and content analysis techniques to explore the following research questions: 1) What challenges do experienced online faculty face when they teach in the virtual learning environment? 2) What new challenges have emerged as a result of their continued online teaching experience? 3) How do experienced instructors approach and address these challenges? Thirty-one self-identified experienced online instructors from across the nation and a variety of institutions participated. Findings show that continued online teaching experience has a profound impact on the way instructors perceive their pedagogical practice, their place in the academy and their role in students’ online learning experiences. The online environment presents instructors with a multitude of challenges. These challenges are complex and involve pedagogical issues as well as philosophical dilemmas that force instructors to reconsider their assumptions about teaching, learning and authority in the classroom. Wrestling with these issues puts instructors in a vulnerable position as they search for pragmatic solutions and simultaneously renegotiate their long-held academic assumptions and beliefs. The practical and philosophical challenges instructors experience in regards to their developing digital pedagogical practice, their changing relationship with students, and their evolving online academic identity are discussed as well as findings related to vulnerability in the online environment. Implications for online faculty development, limitations and areas for improvement are also considered.

The substantial growth of online education has increased the demand for faculty who possess online teaching skills. Many institutions of higher learning offer training programs to teach faculty ways to facilitate online learning. However, the literature on online educations lacked studies demonstrating how those who complete training programs apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate how online faculty apply the training principles and strategies learned in an online faculty-training program and how students perceive teaching effectiveness. Using a case study approach and collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data determined the: (a) frequency with which faculty applied effective teaching practices learned in an online education training program; (b) barriers to using effective teaching practices in online teaching after completion of an online faculty-training program; and (c) perceptions of online students concerning faculty teaching effectiveness. The researcher used the Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI) to collect information from faculty concerning their online teaching strategies, including frequency and ease of use and proficiency of application. The researcher employed the Student Evaluation of Online Teaching Effectiveness survey (SEOTE) to determine student perception of teaching effectiveness. Data included follow-up faculty interviews, the IPI, and the SEOTE responses to create an in-depth investigation of the application of the strategies learned in the online faculty-training program. The IPI faculty survey identified the frequency of use, the ease of use, and level of proficiency of instructional strategies using the Seven Principles of Good Practice. Faculty tended to use principles that related to the online course they taught and identified time constraints as a major barrier to incorporating some of the instructional strategies. Means for instructional strategies were generally higher on ease of use and level of proficiency than they were on frequency of use. Follow-up faculty telephone interview confirmed this finding. The SEOTE results determined student perception of faculty use of the Seven Principles of Good Practice. Principle 3, active learning, ranked highest and Principle 2, cooperation among students, ranked lowest. Due to the small sample size, the finding of this study should not be generalized to other institutions.